TROY -- Some may call them a nuisance, but skateboarders in the area are just looking for a place to skate and one resident is hoping to provide them one.

Billie-Jean Greene, resident and local neighborhood activist, has been developing plans to try and implement a skate park somewhere in the city. She has seen them skating around the city but said she wants them to have a place for themselves.

"I think we need a safe space for kids to skate," Greene said. "I want to give them a park. It's just another sport. It's like having a field for football."

Greene says the committee plans on raising all of the money on their own, which they hope to raise around $400,000 to $500,000 for a nice park. She would like to place it in an already existing park and make in all concrete so there wouldn't have to be extensive up keeping.

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"We won't be looking for money from Troy," Greene said.

Since she first thought of the idea nearly a year ago, she has formed a committee comprised of skateboarders in the 30's and 40's, non-profit workers who have had a plan in getting parks in municipalities and a recreation director from a town that recently installed a new skate park.

Shari Franks, recreation director in the Town of Chatham, said skateboarding started becoming a hazard to people trying to drive through the main shopping district and other streets in the village. There was space in the park, Franks said, where a skate park could be placed.

So far, the result has been positive.

"There has been very little graffiti and the people there have camaraderie. They are a peaceful group of people, from what I witness," Franks said. "They are not out to vandalize."

Franks has been helping Greene and the committee in trying to figure out different methods of fundraising, whether it be through grants or from the community. She added the idea for a skate park had support from not just the community but all of the town board. Luckily for Greene, she seems to have support from the right people.

"Conceptually, we're supportive of the idea," said City Spokesman Mike Fraser. "We've had productive meetings and dialogue and we know there is interest out there, and we like the idea. The discussions are at the beginning stages. And as far as the construction and cost associated with building a skate park, we need to finalize those details beforehand so things can go forward."

Councilwoman Nina Nichols sat in on one of the meetings had with the committee and Mayor Lou Rosamilia, and with two younger boys of her own who enjoy skate boarding, she said she is fully supportive of the idea.

"They love their sport and they'd love the opportunity to encourage people and get them into the sport they love," Nichols said. "I see it as an opportunity for physical fitness. I don't think it is a recipe for crime."

The committee is even getting some support from the police department, as Capt. John Cooney said skateboarders have been tying up the department's patrol officers with calls from people annoyed by skateboarders and having skaters in an uncontrolled environment is a safety issue.

"With the park, we feel it would be an extremely positive endeavor," Cooney said. "We support any programs that are used to recreate in appropriate manor. It would bring activity in a controlled environment and it's a safer and enjoyable environment."

Many of the skateboarders in the area will travel to other towns they know have a skate park, a point Nichols touched on as making the city's own park a destination spot for other skaters. 19-year-old Wayne Kazuo Mitsu Russell said having a park in the city would be beneficial to the region.

"A lot of us that skate, we don't have cars. It forces a lot of us to drive to places to skate and it forces us to use money we don't have," Russell said. "To have a skate park in one of the local cities, it would benefit the whole skateboarding scene as well as benefiting everyone else."

As Russell has to do now, Richie Van, 35, as a kid had to find private properties to skate on when the buildings were closed, such as Hoffman Car Wash, which he said was well lit for them to skateboard. He also said they would sometimes get involved with some bad crowds, which was something he said could have been avoided if there was a skate park for them to be in.

"I'd like to see a kind of thing where kids can go and develop a good work ethic," Van said. "They'll spend hours perfecting a trick, fall down and get bruised up, but it teaches them a work ethic and it keeps them busy."